


Lex Dura Sed Lex

by misura



Category: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Background Lucy Carlyle/Anthony Lockwood, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 14:19:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17081909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "Oh, wow. You really sold out while I was gone, huh?"said the skull.





	Lex Dura Sed Lex

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wolfraven80](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfraven80/gifts).



_"Oh, wow. You really sold out while I was gone, huh?"_ said the skull. _"Yes, I can picture it very clearly now. You, all in despair after my seeming, untimely demise and Lockwood right there, ready to offer a comforting shoulder. That sly fox. Didn't think he had it in him, really, I didn't."_

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said. The happy, fluttery feeling in my stomach that had resulted from my walk with Lockwood had not yet gone completely. I could tell it was only a matter of time, though.

We hadn't talked about anything much. Boring, unimportant stuff. Small talk, which wasn't something I was much good at.

Neither of us had mentioned the necklace. It had belonged to Lockwood's mother, a gift from his father. A symbol of his life-long devotion to her. She'd almost never worn it, Lockwood had told me, and the first time I'd seen it, I'd thought that I'd understood why.

Some things were special. Some things didn't need to be shown off - or shown at all, to anyone not directly involved.

_"On the other hand, if you decide to do another runner, taking that along should set you up nicely. No more crummy apartments for us! You get some more of that stuff out of him, and we could be set for life."_

The skull had saved my life, I reminded myself. Mine, and Lockwood's, and possibly countless others. When push had come to shove, the skull had been there, on our side.

I'd even experienced a certain sadness at the thought that I might never talk to it again.

"I'm not going to run away," I said. "I'm here to stay. With Lockwood, and George, and Holly, and Kipps."

The skull scoffed. _"You are, are you? Doing what, I wonder, now that you've so considerately gone and solve the Problem. Won't be much call for a psychic agency when all the ghosts have gone now, will there? Face it, you put yourself out of a job there. I wonder if your boyfriend ever thought about that."_

"Lockwood isn't my boyfriend." As to all the rest, well, we had talked about it, actually, and we'd decided that we'd deal with one problem at a time. For the next months, at least, there seemed to be plenty of work for the heroic agents of Lockwood & Co.

_"Just keeping you on the side, is he?"_ the skull said. _"And you put up with that? Why, if anyone tried to do that to me, I'd - "_

"I missed you," I said. "There. Happy now?"

_"Nauseated would be more like it. Ugh. Typical, really. Gone for barely a day and you turn from a stubborn, annoying girl into a simpering, weak-willed idiot. Good thing I came back before you slid down any further."_

"You know, if you promised to behave, we might make you an honorary employee."

_"Where by 'honorary', you mean I wouldn't get paid. Sheer skullism. Forget it."_

"You're a ghost. What would you need money for?"

_"That's private. Do you ask Holly what she spends_ her _salary on? Or Kipps? It's not skin products or clothes that might make him halfway bearable to look at, I can tell you that much."_

"I lied. I didn't miss you at all."

_"Sure you didn't,"_ the skull said. _"A reasonable salary, or no more help when you idiots go bumbling about trying to get yourselves killed again. That's my offer. Take it or leave it. The way I look at it, I win either way. I mean, let's face it, if it weren't for me, you'd all be dead."_

 

"Well. It - or 'he', I suppose I should say, isn't wrong, per se." Lockwood looked thoughtful.

"It," George said pointedly, "is a pain, that's what it is. A salary? Ridiculous."

"We might be able to afford it," Holly put in. "We've got plenty of jobs lined up. If Lucy thinks he's going to be helpful, I don't see why we shouldn't pay him for his time, just like we would if we'd hired another agent."

The suggestion that we might, in fact, do that went unspoken. Plenty of Fittes agents were looking to jump ship, rather than stay associated with the Fittes House scandal.

Lockwood had been silent on the matter thus far. I had promised myself that I would abide by his decision, whatever it was. I wouldn't repeat the mistakes I'd made when Holly had first come on board.

"Given that Lucy is the only person it can speak to, I suppose it would be unlikely to cause much trouble," Lockwood said.

George opened his mouth. Lockwood raised a hand. "When I say 'it', I refer to us paying a salary to a ghost."

"Whose name we still don't know."

Lockwood offered me a half-smile. "Well, Luce, we can't hire someone who won't identify himself, can we? It's illegal. We do need to pay taxes, after all. So if your friend wants a salary, I'm afraid that he'll also have to give us a name, maybe even a date of birth."

George sat up a bit straighter. Holly smiled.

I grinned. "He's not going to like that."

"That's a pity, but I'm afraid that the law is the law," Lockwood said.


End file.
